The next 12 to 18 months could be the “make or break” period for blockchain technology and the financial services industry according to analyst Gabriel Wang with Aite Group. Wang has been working closing with blockchain industry experts since 2016 to provide comprehensive research on how blockchain can best serve the financial services industry.

Aite Group is an independent research advisory firm that focuses on the global capital market as well as evolving market structures and how to comply with domestic and global regulation. According to Wang, blockchain technology can be applied to traditional centralized operating systems to improve daily operations and increase safety, efficiency and profits.

Wang predicts the tremendous amount of research and experiments with emerging technologies will soon result in a shift toward blockchain technology in the financial services industry particularly with the shift towards digitalization on organizations and the vital role that blockchain can play in that transition.